The Best Man by: Kristan Higgins

Faith Holland left her hometown after being jilted at the altar. Now a little older and wiser, she’s ready to return to the Blue Heron Winery, her family’s vineyard, to confront the ghosts of her past, and maybe enjoy a glass of red. After all, there’s some great scenery there .

Like Levi Cooper, the local police chief—and best friend of her former fiancé. There’s a lot about Levi that Faith never noticed, and it’s not just those deep green eyes. The only catch is she’s having a hard time forgetting that he helped ruin her wedding all those years ago. If she can find a minute amidst all her family drama to stop and smell the rosé, she just might find a reason to stay at Blue Heron, and finish that walk down the aisle.(Goodreads)

In honor of the Romance Writers of America (RWA 2013) 33rd Annual Conference being held in Atlanta, Georgia next week (July 17-20), I decided to write a book review from one of my favorite Romance authors, Kristan Higgins. She has about twelve books published and I have devoured five. They are all different in story plots and characters (no series here-maybe a few reoccurring faces) but all guarantee to whisk you away to a part of America with beautiful landscapes, well-developed characters, quirky friends and families, a touch of heartache and a simmering, building romance.

“Maybe love isn’t just a bouquet of roses once in a while. Maybe it’s just sticking it out, when it’s hard, when you’re mad, when you’re tired.”

The Best Man is her most recent endeavor and probably my favorite to date. Well, Chief Levi Cooper might have had something to do with it. But anyway….Until There was You was my first Kristan Higgins book, and I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to see if her others would be as good. They are.

After reading some very heavy books that create emotional exhaustion, I turn to Higgins for a lighter read. That in no way means fluffy or “less of a book” to me. She is an excellent writer who can easily transport the reader to a small town (this one-the beautiful Finger Lakes) and make you feel as if you are part of the cast. The well-developed, zany sub-characters and dysfunctional, family dynamics are always a favorite of mine. I always look forward to the new people I will meet when I open one of her books.

Higgins also adds elements of drama realistically without going over the top. Just enough to have you rooting for the characters to “heal” and pull on your heart strings a bit. The humor and embarrassing scenes she creates give the characters a humility in a relatable way: the string of bad dates for Faith, the wardrobe malfunction (kill me now), the forever bickering grandparents, her sister’s crazy sexcapades, finding her Dad a new wife…just to name a few.

The Best Man is a perfect summer read. Or beach read. An “in-between darker stories” book. Perfect to curl up with on a rainy day with a cup of coffee or tea. Actually, great with a glass of wine and some snacks. When you need a good laugh and a simmering romance kind of book. Or when you are reminiscing about…oh, just pick it up already!